Means for cleaning boiler-tubes.



K. KIIVIURA.

MEANS FOR CLEANING BOILEB TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-28.1916.

Patented July 31, 1917.

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Want" lllln l K. KIMUHA.' MEANS FR CLEANING -BOILER TUBES.

APPLICATION FILEU FEB. 28, 1916.

Patented July 31, 1917.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

KENKICHI KIMURA, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

MEANS FOR CLEANING BOILER-TUBES.

Application filed February 28, 1916.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, KENKIGHI KIMURA, a subject of the Emperor of Japan, and residing at New York, county of Kings, State of New York, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Means for Cleaning Boiler-Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for cleaning the exterior surface of tubes.

The object of the invention is to provide a device for cleaning the exterior surface of tubes, such as boiler tubes.

A' further object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described which is simple in structure, ellicient in operation and economical of manufacture.

Further objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination, location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown by the accompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings,-

Figure l is a view in end elevation of a section of boiler tubes, and with a device embodying my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2, 2, Fig. l, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same.

' Fig. 4 is a front View of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5, 5, Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail view in elevation, partly sectioned, of the pinion segment employed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of one end of the same.

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of one form of scraper employed.

Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the slotted bearing of the worm shaft employed in accordance with my invention.

The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever it occurs throughout the several views.

In the use of the various forms of boilers, great difficulty has been encountered in properly cleaning or scraping the boiler tubes. It is well known that these tubes quickly become covered with scales, or other adhesions, and the efficiency theig'ecf there."

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

serial No. 80,952.

fore quickly deteriorates. This is especially true where salt water is employed, the result being that a heavy scale quickly forms on the surface of the tubes se wing, to a great extent, to thermally insulate the tubes. Heretofore, the boiler tubes have been cleaned or scraped by hand, which, besides being tedious and laborious, and not very efficient, consumes a great length of time, thereby greatly increasing the cost of labor, as the tubes have to be cleaned or scraped one at a time. It is among the special purposes of my present invention to provide a device for cleaning or scraping the tubes which will clean all of the tubes at once and can be operated by a single operator.

In the drawings l designates the boiler tubes arranged in vertical sets in the usual manner. Although my invention is applicable to any size or number of tubes, for illustrative purposes I show my device applied to a system employing vertical sets of seven tubes, but it is obvious that any system may be employed. In accordance with my invention I provide a pair of plates indicated at 2 cut away as shown to allow the plates to pass between the vertical rows of tubes and longitudinally thereof, and adapted to partially surround the same. The legs 3 of the plates, which, due to their cutaway portions lie between the vertically arranged tubes, are provided with lugs or inward projections 4, which rest against each other, and which when bolted or otherwise secured to each other as shown at 5, form a space between the plates 2 which are thus tightly clamped to each other. Lying between the plates 2, preferably in a groove in one of them as shown at 6, Fig. 5, and extending the vertical length of the plates, is a rack bar 7. Lcosely positioned between the plates 2, and partially surrounding the alternate tubes, is a circular pinion segment S provided with teeth 9 which are in mesh with the teeth of the rack bar. The pinion segments 8 are arranged, as has been hereinbefore stated, around alternate tubes, as, in modern practice, the space between the tubes is too narrow to permit the pinion segments to surround every tube in the vertical row.

The pinion segment 8 is held in place and in mesh with the rack 7 by means of a rounded lug 10 formed on the interior surface of 'one Yof the plates Q, which lug allows rotary motion of the pinion segment, but prevents horizontal or vertical movement thereof. Thus it will beseen that by moving the racl 7 vertically in one direction or the other, the pinion segment will rock in one direction or another substantially halfv way` around the tube which it incloses.

As shown in detail in Fig. 6, the ends of the pinion segments 8 have secured thereto, in any suitable manner, for instance by bolt 11, a spring 12` the free end of which is secured to a scraper 13 passing through a hole 14 in the end of the pinion segment 8, as clearly shown. rEhe scrapermay be of any suitable form or material, and I prefer to have the end thereof pointed, as shown at l5.

It will be seen that the spring 12 normally maintains thev scraper in contact' against the tube, and that by rocking the pinion segment the Scrapers, one on each end of pinion segment, effectively scrape the tube which they are in contact with.

The rack 7 may be actuated in its vertical movement in any desired manner. I show one simple arrangement wherein I journal a shaft 16 in the plates 2, and I mount a gear wheel 17 thereon to rotate therewith, which gear wheel meshes with the' rack 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The shaft 16 may be rotated in any desired manner, for instance by the crank handle 18.

To eliminate the necessity of scraping alternate tubes, and then the remaining alternate tubes, I provide two identical scrap` ers, positioned adjacent each otheiI and secured to each other by clamping the same, at top and bottom, by the clamping plates 19 and bolts 20. The two devices areidentical except that the pinion segments are alternately placed. For example, if the pinion segments of one of the devices surround tubes 2, 4, 6, S, etc., the pinion segments of the second device will surround tubes 1, 3, 7. 9, etc., thereby securing the scraping of all of the tubes of each vertical set, simultaneously.

It is essential that the tubes be scraped throughout their longitudinal length, and it is desirable to secure, therefore, longitudinal movement of the scraping devices. I show one simple arrangement for accomplishing this result wherein I provide a stationary worm 25, at the top and bottom of the tube chamber. A vertical shaft 27, positioned between the vertical sets of tubes adjacent the set being scraped is provided at its ends with gear wheels 28 which mesh with a gear wheel 26 mounted on shaft 29 on which is also mounted a gear wheel 30, which gear wheel 30 meshes with and drives a gear wheel 31 mounted on the worm shaft 25. The vertical shaft may be rotated in any desired manner, for example, by the crank 35, at either end thereof, and is secured by the bearing plates 36 to the scraping devices 2 by any suitable means, for example, the bolts 37.

rlhe operation of the device is very simple. Assuming the apparatus is applied as shown in Fig. 1, the rst set of vertical tubes being the ones which it is desired to scrape. By ro-` tating the crank handle 1S first in one direction and then the other, the rack 7 is raised and lowered by the gear wheel 17, thereby causing the rotation of the pinion segments 8 in one direction and then the other, and causing the scrapers 13, to scrape over thevsurface ofthe tube in one direction andv then the other. 1When that operation hasy been completed several times, andthe tubes l' are scraped clean, the handle 35-is rotated thereby turning the shaft127', gear wheels 26, 30 andll, andi thereby causingthe scraping device to move longitudinally along the tubes to the next position or the end of the cleaned portion, where-thescraping operation is repeated. i

When the vertical set of tubes has been scraped', the scraping device is removed from that set of tubes, for example, over their extreme ends, and the worm shafts25V are moved longitudinally in the slot 40 of their journals 41 until the scraping device can pass over the next vertical set, a-nd the operation hereinbefore described repeated.

l/lvhile I have shown and describedl a specific structure embodying my invention, it will be readily understood that many changes i'n detail will readily occur to those skilled in the art without departing Vfrom the broad scope of my invention as dened in the claims.

Therefore, what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. rIlhe combination with a plurality Vof pinion segments arranged in alinement with each other, serapers connected to each end of said pinion segments, a rack engaging said pinion segments and means for reciprocally moving said rack relative to said segments to rock the same. I

2. A tube scraping device comprising a plurality of reciprocally rotatable scraping members adapted to partially surround the tubes, means for reeiprocally rotating said members, and means for moving said device along the horizontallongitudinal length of the tubes. Y

3. A tube scraper comprising a pluralityof scraping members arranged to bear against alternate alined tubes, a plurality of similar members adjacent thereto andarranged to bear against the remaining alternate tubes, means for rocking said members, and means for simultaneously moving said members along the longitudinal length of said tubes.

4. A tube scraper comprising a'plurality of scraping members arranged to partially surround the exterior surface of alternating alined tubes and bearing at its respective ends against the exterior surface of sait tube, and means for rotating said members alternately in opposite directions about the axis of said tubes.

5. A tube scraper comprising a plurality oi scraping members arranged to partiallyr surround and bear at their ends against the exterior surface of alined tubes, a plurality of similar members adjacent thereto and arranged to partially surround and bear at their ends against the exterior surface of the remaining alternating tubes and means for simultaneously rotating said members about the axis of said tubes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 21st day of February A. D. 1916.

KEN KIGHI KIMURA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

